South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Sunset Hills reader urges residents to oppose Fribis’ bid for mayor

To the editor:

I am writing to strongly urge your readers not to support Ward 4 Alderman Pat Fribis in her bid for Sunset Hills mayor.

This is based upon my interaction with her in her role as a member on our city’s Board of Aldermen. Last August, I began the process of requesting a change in the definition of a kennel from three dogs to four dogs. This change would allow households to have three dogs.

My request went through the Public Works Committee and was sent on to the Board of Aldermen for a vote. The first reading went well and the second reading on Oct. 13 was expected to go through without a hitch. Imagine my stunned surprise when the vote was tied and Mayor Mark Furrer was literally beginning to break the tie in favor of the change when Fribis requested that the vote tally be read and then requested that she would like to change her vote from a “yes” to a “no.”

Here are my reasons why I believe that Fribis is far from competent to serve as mayor.

• She changed her vote after the result had been read.

• All of the board members, including Fribis, received an email from a former alderwoman an hour prior to the vote urging the board to oppose the change. As I was informed by several other aldermen, Fribis and this woman are good friends.

• Upon inquiry into the reason why votes were changed, Fribis informed me that she had heard from many residents that they did not want the change to go through. Yet she could only provide evidence of one incident that was not directly related to the changing of the rule.

• In her own words, I did not change my vote — I just said it incorrectly. Quite frankly, the fourth point disturbs me the most. If you are going to be a member of a governing body you must be sharp and prepared.

Regarding the three-dog rule, it was discussed by the Public Works Committee that there were more than enough nuisance laws that would cover any complaint a resident might have.

I believe that our city deserves an ethical mayor.

Meg Petri

Sunset Hills

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